And Then the Five Went Fishing

When the five brothers stumbled upon the commotion outside the palace, curiosity did get to them. They were clothed in dhotis and under-shirts. They were unshaven, unkempt, and looked like they hadn’t had a haircut in many months together. They were also tired from looking for food and grain all day.

These poverty-stricken conditions were imposed on them by their own infernal cousins who, owing to a feud bordering on the petty, believed that some quality time in exile would do the five a world of good. Although, one must note that the cousins really believed the five brothers to be dead following the deliberate sabotage of the castle of wax, which the cousins had built to house them. The five had just escaped that attempt on their lives by the skin of their dhotis, and were now in hiding; surviving on the benevolence of whoever they could find in the quaint little town they had wandered in to.

Upon making a few polite inquiries, they learned that the local King Drupad was getting his daughter married through some sort of competitive archery. The brothers were all the more curious now. They made their way into the palace courtyard, where they were handed printed canvas sheets detailing the rules of the competition. Viewing the competition as an audience was free, read the instructions. However, participants were to deposit 3 lemons as collateral for the bow and arrows they would be provided, to enter the competition.

Arjuna’s eyes lit up in excitement. He was an excitable fellow. He turned to Yuddhishtr and spoke.

“Dear elder brother, even our teacher Drona admitted I was the best archer in the country. Please permit me to take part in this competition.”

Yuddhishtr was already in thought. At the top of his concerns was that this exposure could potentially blow their cover since they were thought to be dead. But followed closely at second place, was the matter of arranging for the lemons. He spoke his mind.

“My dear Arjuna, I have no doubt you will emerge victorious but I recommend that you use this disguise to your advantage. Adopt a pseudonym and enter the competition. I am hopeful that the name confusion can be resolved after you have won. Nakul, find out how much rice we’d need to trade for 3 lemons. The four of us can be part of the audience.” Yuddhishtr said, and all agreed.

While they waited for Nakul to return, Bheema chose to take a casual stroll and took fancy to a fruit-seller’s cart. Upon carefully inspecting the melons, bananas, apples, tapping and sniffing at them, he agreed to trade one of his earrings for a sack of fruits enough to last a week. Even if it did mean looking like a complete tool with just the one earring. Repulsed by this, Yuddhishtr politely asked Bheema to undo the other earring and place it in the sack with the fruits.

Nakul returned with the lemons and to Yuddhishtr’s approval, still had some rice with him. Arjuna was good to go. He was to contest 3rd from last. So, in they all went to witness the spectacle.

 A visibly anxious King Drupad was seated on the throne. He appeared to be most enthused about the goings on. His daughter Draupadi, seated right beside him, wore a dejected look.

“Pa, this has been such a waste of a Saturday afternoon. Nobody, not even the chief of your army could accomplish this really difficult challenge. I told you arm-wrestling would have been more within the skill level of the locals in your kingdom.” said Draupadi.

“Nonsense dear!” King Drupad shot back. “I don’t want to marry you off to some brute with bulky arms and a thick head now do I? Besides, this is a perfectly possible challenge to complete. Moreover, my minister assured me that only one would emerge victorious.”

The challenge being spoken about was easy enough to understand but extremely difficult to execute. A fish was nailed to the ceiling directly above a shallow pool of water. The objective was to kneel beside the pool, look only at the reflection of the fish in the water and shoot an arrow through the fish’s eye.

As participant after participant tried and failed, it was the great Bheema who remarked to his brothers.

“My brothers, this is going to be a walk in the park for Arjuna. You all do remember what he did to that parrot on the tree that none of us could even see? It was during our training days. Our one hundred cousins and plus the four of us couldn’t separate that green bird from the leaves. Arjuna not only saw the bird, he even pierced its eye with a single arrow on first attempt!”

Bheema’s remark was followed by some murmuring. Seemingly from behind him. It was Sahdev.

“Sahdev! For Pete’s sake! You’ll need to do a little better than that for us to be able to hear you.” spoke a visibly agitated Yuddhishtr.

“Sorry, brother Yuddhishtr. What if Arjuna wins? Where will we take Draupadi with us?”, asked Sahdev.

“Damnation! You’re right! I hadn’t considered that. But we’ll see. Here he comes. And about time too. Mother Kunti will be worried for us.” Yuddhishtr replied, catching a glimpse of the sundial on the wrist of a passer-by.

Arjuna walked nonchalantly towards the shallow pond with his bow and a single arrow, gave the reflection of the fish a determined stare, looked up at the ceiling, and quickly determined a comfortable spot to kneel. The kneeling was critical. His posture needed to be strong and at the same time comfortable. Arjuna then closed his eyes for a moment of prayer.

“Look pa! There’s no hope now with just 2 others left after this bearded village idiot.” Draupadi spoke with withering condemnation. Drupad knew she had a sharp tongue and let it go.

Arjuna opened his eyes, pulled the bow to a full stretch, held it for a couple of seconds, and then in an instant, released his grip sending the arrow straight up and squarely through the eye of the fish.

The audience erupted with an overwhelming round of applause and all sorts of horns and drums followed in the background. Arjuna looked up at the arrow and then took a bow.

“What the..!?!” exclaimed King Drupad as he glanced at his minister in some distress, contributed in the most part by the prospect of marrying his daughter off to some shabby, unwashed commoner. He waited a few minutes until the noise died. Once it had, he cleared his throat and spoke.

“Who are you? Identify yourself.”

Arjuna had his head down and walked slowly towards the King front and centre, but before he could speak, Yuddhishtr was right next to him and began addressing King Drupad.

“King Drupad, before I begin introductions, I seek the confidentiality and the secrecy of your Highness, for my brothers and I are not what we appear to be.” said Yuddhishtr.

“Well, thank God for that!” said Drupad and motioned for his guards to escort the brothers to a small, cosy room just adjacent to the main arena. Once in the room with the five, he began, “So, who are y’all really?”

“King Drupad, we are the five sons of Pandu, the former ruler of Hastinapur. We suspect our mother is hiding the sixth one from us but that is just speculation. Our cousins, the Kauravas, took a shot at our lives and they believe they succeeded; which is what I would like them still believing because we believe we are still alive whether they like it or not and whether you believe it or not. I also believe that my brother Arjuna has just won that competition of yours and deserves a reward…umm… your Highness.”

King Drupad blinked twice before exclaiming, “What a verbose fairy tale. It’s a good thing I didn’t ask you to explain how to read a sundial. I wouldn’t have understood a bloody thing. Guards! Get my minister here. I need clarification.”

The minister walked in shortly afterwards looking frightened, surprised, and overwhelmed with pride. He turned to the King and said, “My Lord, I can confirm that I designed the task knowing that only Arjuna, the son of Pandu could make that shot. I can’t believe he really came here to be among us. It is a work of God. I had intended that your daughter be married only to the most skilful archer ever to walk on Bharatvarsh. And this, I believe, has happened. I salute you your Highness for your unbelievable luck.”

“Oh stop saying ‘believe’, interjected Drupad. I have just heard this man Yuddhishtr confuse me no end through a verbal diarrhoea of ‘believe’ and its derivatives. The next one to say ‘believe’ is getting my sword up his…”

Drupad was distracted as Draupadi quietly walked in. Well, to be fair, with all that jewellery clanging about, it was anything but quiet. She queried,

“Pa, what is going on here? Are you really getting me married to this man?”

“Dear Draupadi, I have just been informed that these are no ordinary men. They are some of the best kshatriyas to have set foot on Bharatvarsh. They are in hiding, hiding from their cousins.” answered the King.

“Your Highness, Yuddhishtr began, It is for the reasons I explained before that we wish our true identities do not leave this room. We beg your forgiveness for the confusion. The reward is completely your decision to make.”

Drupad was in thought. He indeed was in luck that such fortune should befall him and didn’t waste a second longer.

“I can understand the confusion. What still confounds me is why in God’s name are you guys dressed up like hobos. Why not farmers or peasants?”

“Well, we’re all holed up in the…” Nakul began and was promptly interrupted by Yuddhishtr.

“Cut it out Nakul!”

“In any case, what’s done is done,” continued King Drupad, “But I can’t let my daughter simply walk away with you, not while you’re all still looking like that. Guards! Show these men to the nearest set of guest rooms and get them fresh sets of clothes, towels, and a few bars of soap. We’ll prepare for the wedding.

“And before I forget, once we leave this room, get it disinfected. I don’t want it smelling like it had monkeys the next time I come in here.”

And so King Drupad left a happy man, Draupadi, a content woman, and the five emerged refreshed and ready to face a life of hiding with some support from the local King.